We March Together

I have written and rewritten this post several times. How do you put into words what is going on in this country right now? How can we continue to pretend that race is no longer an issue and continue to make excuses? I am disgusted by what is happening and has been happening to the Black community. The time for action is now. I am white. This is not a privilege that I have earned. I was born with it. I have never had to truly consider what it means to be a white person in America. It means that I can go about my life without the fear that assumptions will be made. Assumptions that could change my life forever. Living that way should not be a privilege, it should be a right. The Black community in America does not have the privilege of living this way. That is wrong. A wrong that needs to be righted. Equality is equal. There are no caveats. There are no excuses. We can’t continue to explain away racial issues.  The time to take real action and make real change passed long ago and we missed it. America pretended it was fixed. Pretended that change had really happened. But instead racism was left to grow and fester throughout society. However it is not to late. It is time to admit we were wrong. That we are the problem. Racism exists. It is time to say out loud that systemic racism exists. We didn’t fix it. We made people forget that it was a problem in the first place. It is time to band together, hand in hand, and march towards the light. You may ask what can I do? Acknowledge that racism exists. Stop making excuses. Talk to your friends and neighbors. Learn and grow. Educate yourself and the community. Vote. Call out injustice when you see it. Have compassion for your fellow human beings. Have even more compassion for those around you who may not have the privileges you do. We all need to do what is right. We march together.